Internal combustion engine



June 9, 1936. RAGAN' 2,043,866

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July 26, 1932 3mm Alexander Hagan, Jr.

32 WNW.

Patented June 9, 1936 PAT E 1T OFFICE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Alexander Hagan, Jr., Baltimore, Md.

Application July 26, 1932, Serial No. 624,802

2 Claims, 01. 64-45 Thisiinvention relates to. internal combustion engines and, hasparticular relation to a device forcontrolling. the functions of, the'valve mechanism.of.a -four-cycle engine and the time when 5". these functions take place in the cycle of the piston...

Itxis well'known that the setting of the valve cycle. of. an internal combustion engine relative to-.the cycle of the piston of that enginecontrols lOLtO a great extent the performance of the engine. It is-.equally.w.ell.known that. the setting of the spark with relation to other portions of the cycle of the engine as a whole is very important and means have been provided to regulate the 15 spark setting-both manually and automatically-as set forth in many patents.

The present practice is to set the valves at an arbitrary setting, far in advance of the piston as in the case of high speed motors. The par- 20 ticular valve setting is selected which, while a compromise, will give the best all-round performance. Since most motors are occasionally used at high speed, it is necessary for the valve setting to be far enough in advance to be effec- 25 tive at the desired high speed. But since most of the operation, particularly in automotive en-' gines is at low and intermediate speeds, it is evident that the engine is operating at low torque and low efiiciency during most of the time. The

30 same condition is also present when the engine is operating at speeds exceeding the speed which corresponds to the setting of the valve mechanism.

The primary object of this invention is the 35 provision of a means for controlling the position of the valve cycle with relation to the piston cycle of an internal combustion engine, so that a maximum torque may be obtained at all possible speeds.

40 Another object of the invention is the provision of means for automatically controlling the position of the valves in the engine cycle, the position to be varied automatically so as to obtain the greatest torque for that particular speed.

45 Still another object of the invention is the provision of a device which will control the time of the valve functions in the engine cycle and which is susceptible of slight modification to produce the desired results for the particular type of en- 50 gine to which it is applied.

Other and further objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the complete specification and claims.

Referring to the drawing, the figure illustrates 55 a front view of the invention as applied to the forward end of an automotive four-cycle motor. In the drawing l designates the crank shaft of a four-cycle engine and H a spurgear which is keyed thereto and driven thereby. In mesh with the gear II is a gear l2 which is mounted a; about and relatively rotatable to the shaft I 3 which is the valve-controlling part of the motor. The shaft 53 is provided with a frictionreducing bearing l4, upon which the gear l2 may'rotatel Keyed to the shaft [3 is a spider l5- having arms 55. Cam-bearing face plates I! are providedon the arms L6;to provide;bearing surfaces for the cams to be described. Mounted on the gear I2 are centrifugally controlled cam members which will now be described. The pivots l5 I 8 are mounted on the body of the gear I2. These pivots it have mounted thereabout, centrifugal cam members I9 which are provided with cam portions Ill in position to engage the cam bearing face plates I1. The cam bearing face plates I! have faces I! which contact with the cam faces l9 of the cam portions l9 On the opposite side of the pivots l8 from the cam portions l9 are weighted portions |9. These Weighted portions l9 have a tendency to swing outwardly when the gear I2 is rotated. This tendency to fly outwardly is resisted by springs 20 which are secured at their fixed ends to the pivot I8 and at their opposite ends to the weighted portions as by the pins 2|.

It will be noted from the direction of rotation of the gear l2 and the shaft l3, that the cam faces l9 and the faces I! of the respective face plates ll, will be in contact with each other under normal rotative movement. However, in order to insure constant contact between these surfaces, there may be provided one or more springs 22 which are secured at one end to pins 22 which are mounted on the gear l2 and at the other end to the pins 22 mounted on the arms I6.

In operation, the crank shaft l0 carrying the gear ll drives the gear l2 which in turn drives the spider l5 through contact between the spider arms I 6 and the cam portions l9 At the beginning of the rotative movement, as when the engine is started, the centrifugal force throws the Weighted portions l9 outwardly, rotating about the pivots 18 as centers. This causes 00- action between the cam faces and gives a relative rotation between the gear l2 and the shaft I3. As this rotation takes place, it will be clear that a change in the setting of the valves will be made in accordance with the speed of rotation of the gear 12. A greater speed of rotation of the gear l2causes a greater swinging outwardly of the weighted portions IS with aconsequent relative advance movement of the spider l relative to the gear l2. 7 a

This causes an advance or lead in the perform- 5 ance of all functions of the valves and any other 7 devices connected tothe shaft 'l3-as the igni- 'ti'on, for'example.

When the centrifugal'force for any particular l speed of rotation, balances the force of the spring Q 10' 20, the relative position of the spider I5 and the gear lz will be maintained. When, however, there is change of the speed of rotation, there will be a change in position of the weighted portions l9, causing a change in the relative angu- V lar positions of the gear l2 and the spider l5.

'As'soon as the rotation of the shaft I0 is again 7 stabilized at a new speed, the parts will maintain their, relative positions. 7 'During operation and. at rest, the springs 22 'hold the faces ll? and l9 in'contactwith each v other ready for coaction therebetweento cause a a new setting of the valves. 7 e

WhilefI have illustrated and described in detail an embodiment of my invention, I desire 25 to have it understood that this is merely i1lustrative and, that modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventionjand withinithe scope of the append- ".rr d r ai a c a a Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l ln'an internal combustion engine having a crank shaft and a valve-controlling shaft, the combination of a gear on the crank shaft, a' gear mountedabout the cam shaft but rotatable relatively thereabout, a pluralitycof circumferentially spaced centrifugally operated cams; arms 5 extending from and secured to the valve controlled'shaft and having substantially radially extending flat faces coacting with the cams, the contacting points between the cams and arms being outwardly of the rotating centers of the 10 V cams, and resilienttension members normally tending to hold the cam contacting faces and earns together. 7

2. In an internal combustion engine having a crank shaft and a valve-controlling shaft, the 15 combination of a'series of radiating arms connected to the valve-controlling shaft, a gear mounted on the valve-controllingrshaft and having circular bearing means therebetween, a series of centrifugally operated cams having substan- 20 tially radially extending fiat cam faces in contact with the respective arms and so constructed as to contact at different points on the cam and V at different points on the arms,-the contacting points between the cams and arms being out- 25. 

